The fixture

With the wins level at 14 apiece prior to the start of the season, we’ve now edged ahead thanks to our two victories over the Mariners this season. The all-time record now stands at 16 Jets wins, 14 Mariners wins, and 16 draws.

It’s even better reading when it comes to the history at home, with the Jets claiming 9 wins to the Mariners’ 4. Incredibly, in the last decade, we’ve lost to the Central Coast at home on just two occasions.

Expect a big crowd in at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday afternoon too, with the average attendance to F3 Derby’s at home a touch over 12,000.

Another thing on our side this weekend is the record of the boss, Ernie Merrick in this fixture. In five games against the Mariners while in charge of Newcastle, he’s recorded five wins.

A clean sheet this weekend for the Jets would also be something of a history maker, as it’d be the first time in over six years we’ve kept three consecutive clean sheets.

The players

As with most fixtures, Joel Griffiths currently leads the scoring charts against the Mariners with six goals but there’s a player fast approaching him.

Roy O’Donovan has five against the Central Coast, with all of those coming across Round 1 (three goals) and Round 27 (two goals) last season.

There are two players approaching milestones in terms of consecutive appearances for the Club: Nikolai Topor-Stanley, and Steven Ugarkovic.

Topor is set to make his 64th consecutive appearance in Jets colours, in a spell stretching back to his first stint (2009-12) at the Club. Across those 63 on the trot, he hasn’t missed a minute!

In terms of Hyundai A-League appearances, Steven Ugarkovic is approaching his 59th consecutive appearance in the league for the Jets.

Don’t miss a minute of the action this weekend, as we take on the Central Coast Mariners in our annual RAAF Round on Saturday 16 March. Kick-off is 5.35pm at McDonald Jones Stadium.